1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for controlling a musical medley function in a television having a karaoke player incorporated therewith, and more particularly to a method for controlling a musical medley function wherein the songs are classified into a thematic category and a formational category, the user may choose one theme and one style from the respective categories, and the songs with background video, words, and accompaniment music are played one after another.
Korean Patent Application No. 93-12407 is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, television receivers are provided with an external signal input terminal for receiving video signals and audio signals from external sources. Examples of such external sources include a video cassette recorder, camcorder, or karaoke player, and the signals supplied from the external source can be monitored through a cathode ray tube (CRT) and speakers. The user selects between the television signal or the video and/or audio signals received via the external signal input terminal by manipulating an operation button installed on the television receiver or remote controller. The selected signal is provided to the CRT and the speakers in the ordinary manner.
A karaoke player is an apparatus provided with a television monitor for displaying words, accompaniment-music, background video scenes, and allows the user to input his or her own voice mixed with the accompaniment-music. There are several categories of karaoke players, including an LD player system using a laser disc player, a CDG player system using a compact disc graphic player, and a computerized player system using a memory.
The LD player system has the best video and sound quality of all the karaoke systems, but the number of songs recorded on a single disc is restricted to about thirty songs. Thus, a disc exchanging apparatus, such as a jukebox, is required to play a lot of songs in an LD player system.
Although a CDG player system provides excellent sound quality similar to that of the laser disc system, it provides only limited number of still image information recorded on a sub-code channel of the compact disc, so that the picture and music are barely interrelated to each other. Moreover, the number of songs recorded on a compact disc is limited to about fifteen, thereby also requiring a disc exchanging apparatus to play a large number of songs.
A computerized player system does not provide sound quality on a par with the laser disc or compact disc player systems. However, a computerized system has the advantage that accompaniment-music and word information of about 1,000 to 1,500 songs are provided, and music selection can be carried out at a high speed. A computerized player system will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a computerized karaoke player, which uses a memory, is connected to a general video monitor and audio amplifier, and provides a stereophonic accompaniment-music signal and word information. When a specific song is selected by a command input portion 1 and an accompaniment-music start signal is received, a controller 2 controls an accompaniment-music signal generator 3 to generate the accompaniment-music signal for the designated song. At the same time, the controller 2 controls a character signal generator 4 to generate the word information for the designated song.
An audio signal, such as one representing the users voice, is received through an audio input portion 5, mixed with the accompaniment-music signal in a mixer 6 and supplied to the audio amplifier via an audio output terminal. Also, an output from the character signal generator 4 is supplied to the monitor to allow the user to sing the selected song in time with and in tune with the accompaniment music.
However, the above-described computerized karaoke player requires a separate monitor for effectively monitoring the accompaniment-music signal and word signal, and an amplifier is also required. In other words, the user must purchase at least two kinds of apparatus. Furthermore, since the computerized karaoke player system has its own command input portion, the user separately manipulates the television receiver along with the manipulation of the karaoke player system, resulting in inconvenience when using it.
In order to solve the inconvenience due to the separated computerized karaoke player system and the television receiver, it has been proposed that the computerized karaoke player be accommodated in the television set by including the video/accompaniment-music signal generating portion, thereby allowing the output of the karaoke player system to be processed and output to the conventional television monitor and the amplifier.
However, the above proposed device still has the disadvantage that the menu provided to the user for his selection cannot be varied and, therefore, the present invention is directed to a method for providing a more varied menu to the user through the television set accommodating the computerized karaoke player system.